Josh Carlton dominated in the paint and led #12 Houston to an 83-66 win at USF Wednesday night. Carlton scored a career-high 30 points, on 11/16 shooting, and tied his season-high with 11 rebounds. Kyler Edwards added 15 points and a career-high eight assists.
“I know our record says 13-2, but this team is 2-0,” Kelvin Sampson said about his team since Tramon Mark and Marcus Sasser were lost for the season due to injury. “Nobody asked to be in the situation we’re in.”
“It’s a great win. I’ve been doing this a long time,” Sampson said, “and it’s hard to win on the road.”
Sampson praised his team for getting the ball inside to Carlton and for his ability to catch and put it in the basket. Carlton outscored USF in the paint on his own, 30-22, and only had one turnover.
“We knew one thing, our gameplan was to get it in there to be big number 25,” Sampson said with a wry smile. “He’s just a joy to coach and to be around.”
Sampson said it was obvious that Jamal Shead’s legs were tired and that’s why he came out after just 11 minutes on the floor in the second half. He also praised Taze Moore’s improved defense.
South Florida shot just 31% after halftime against UH’s new zone defense. UH played zone just once last year for an extended period (Tulsa) but has had to go to it the last two games with the slimmed-down roster. Because of the short bench, Sampson is wary about the quick turnaround before the Wichita State game.
“The 11 o’clock game on Saturday really concerns me,” Sampson said of his team’s depth issues and schedule this week. “We really need next week to get organized with some things.
“We gotta find a way to regroup.”